TORONTO -- A little more than two years after being officially appointed, Dr. Gregory Taylor is retiring as the country's top doctor, The Canadian Press has learned.
Taylor's last day as chief public health officer will be Friday, and the Public Health Agency of Canada has posted a notice looking for his replacement.
Taylor took over the position in September 2014, succeeding Dr. David Butler-Jones, the first head of PHAC, which was created in 2004 in response to the SARS crisis.
Butler-Jones was Canada's top physician for almost a decade and left the position in 2013 after suffering a stroke a year earlier.
Taylor, 61, had previously been Butler-Jones's deputy, but was acting chief until he officially took on the role, which normally would last five years.
"When I applied, I told the selection committee that I would do two years," he said in an interview Tuesday from Ottawa. "My personal goal was to retire at 60 ... so in keeping with that, my retirement is just a little over the two-year mark.
"But I had really been doing the job for about four years."
The chief public health officer is responsible for providing leadership to the Public Health Agency and providing advice to the federal minister of health, while looking out for the health of all Canadians.
